West Virginia Democrat. [volume] (Charles Town, W. Va.) 1885-1890, 1887-04-29
THE LEGISLATURE.
Fighting For Deiay--canden and Kenna
On the Side of Railroad Managers.

CHARLESTON, April 27.-Practi
cally nothing has been done since
my last letter. The appropriation
bill for the Legislature and State
officers passed the house. The gen.
eral appropriation bill still hangs
fire. 1t would not take two hours
to pass it, but theSamdenites make
all the delay possible. 1t may be
considered settled that vote for
Senator will be taken. Some of the
Twelve are willing to take a vote
and this settles it. Judge Hoke is
entirely confident this session has
no power to elect, and his speech
on next Wednesday will be clinch-
err Dawson agrees with Hoke, and
while nearly all the Republicans are
with them, yet there are several who
for various reasons will vote TO go
into the election, although they still
insist they are opposed to Camden.
Camden is working very quietly, and
word has been passed along his line
to keep silent. Snider will not vote
for him, but some of Camden's men
now claim Senator Bob Carr and also
Depue. Chiffon was the Camden
candidate for the Senate in this dis
trict and Carr defeated him by rep
resenting that he was against Cam
den. He is also a Greenbacker, and
if he now changes over to Camden
he will go against every principle he
has ever professed. / do not know
him personally well enough to pre-
dict what he will do. There are
other Republicans claimed by Cam
denis men. But the best opln-
ion seems to be that they will stand
to their colors. In fact, it is pretty
we'll understood that n change OF
front will be such strong evidence
of being guilty of bribery that if
this Legislature does not. the next
Legislature will expose it and the
guilty party or parties Will 60 to the
penitentiary. 1t seems to be for
gotten that members take an oath
not to accept anything directly or
indirectly for any vote. And under
this provision, if violated, man
may be sent to the penitentiary. or
course q bride may be administered
with great caution, but | do not he
lieve, in the present state of feeling,
it can be administered in way to
avoid detection. If Camden is
elected this State will be in ferment
and candidates will be chosen for
the next Legislature for the express
purpose of bringing the guilty par
ties to Justice. Any one who is not
on the inside here can not appreci-
ate the risk the man who takes q
bride incurs and the bigger the
bride the greater the risk. The
Republicans will not be put aside
by the fiimsy excuse that Camden is
for q protective tariff, Being the
I nominee OF the Democratic caucus,
Republican masses know perfectly
we'll that if, after what has occurred,
one of their party voted for him, he
does so for q consideration. The
Camdenites are trying to create an
impression that if they cannot elect
him then they are going to take up
some one else. But this is all bosh
If Camden fails now he and Kenna
arc going to try to elect the next
( Legislature. This is understood by
the shrewdest Republicans. They
know that if he is candidate again
they will be able to defeat his nomi-
nees as they defeated Watson, Hud
kins, Pendleton, Chiffon and Sehon.
could not attend the discussion
of the railroad bill, but presume the
correspondents of the Wheeling pa
pers have given sufficient account of
it. l heard persons say that the
railroad lawyers simply rehashed
the usual clap-trap that such lcgis-
lation will cripple railroad improve
ment. They said this same thing
when trying to prevent Wilson's
nomination, and yet there has been
more building than ever before. The
chief stock in trade of the Camden
ties has been his advocacy of the
Interstate bill. Some Of those vo-
ting for him are doing so in the
honest belief that he is sincerely in
favor of such legislation, and these
men will of course vote for the bill
now offered. But if Camden was re-
ally in favor Of the side he advOcat-
ed in Washington, he would be doing
what he could to have the same law
passed in this State. But, on the
contrary, he is at heart opposed 70
it, and while he does nothing open
". yet his influence is against the
bill. The same may be said of Ken
ma. II his heart was on the side of
the people, he would be trying to
pass the bill offered by Chew. 1.-The
wanted it to pass, he would have come
before the committee and argned in
its favor, but he did nothing oil the
sort. Their action in this matter
ought to convince the people that at
heart Camden and Kenna are against
them in their fight with railroad
managers. The Camdenites are
using this railroad bill to pre-
vent legislation, in order to spin
out the business until after the
sacond Tuasday so as tn Oet n